Chapter 44: Pain and Pain Management Flashcards
What are the challenges of pain management?
- nurse cannot see or feel patient’s pain
- purely subjective; no two can experience the same pain
Pain is defined by the International Association of the Study of Pain as
an unpleasant, common subjective sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.
Pain
is whatever the experiencing person says it is, existing whenever he/she says it.
Physiology of Pain
- transduction
- transmission
- perception
- modulation
transduction
- converts energy produced by thermal chemical or mechanical stimuli into electrical energy.
- the pain producing stimulus starts at the periphery and travel across sensory periphery nerve fibers (nocireceptors) causing action potential leading to transmission.
transmission
- cellular damage caused by stimuli resulting in release of excitatory neurotransmitters.
- the transmitters surround the pain fibers and spread the pain message to cause inflammatory response
perception
painful stimuli then travels through transmission to the cerebral cortex to be processed in the brain and the person becomes aware of the pain.
modulation
- once the brain perceives the pain, release of inhibitory neurotransmitters help to produce analgesic effect.
- last phase of pain impulse
Gate-Control Theory of Pain
- gating mechanisms located along the CNS regulate or block pain impulses.
- pain impulses pass through when the gate is open and are blocked when the gate is closed.
closing the gate is the basis for
non-pharmacological pain relief: pain threshold (the point at which person feels pain)
Responses to Pain
- physiological responses
2. behavioral responses
physiological responses
when pain causes fight-or-flight response resulting in stimulation of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system
behavioral responses
influenced by person’s culture, experiences, and perceptions of pain
Acute pain
warns people of injury and disease; protective
Characteristics of acute pain
- identifiable cause
- short in duration
- limited tissue damage
- self-limiting
- lasts less than 6 months
Chronic pain
- non protective and serves no purpose.
- episodic pain, cancer pain, idiopathic pain
Characteristics of chronic pain
- prolonged pain
- varies in intensity
- lasts longer than 6 months
Common Misconceptions about Pain
the following statements are false:
- Patients who cannot speak do not feel pain
- Patients who abuse substances overreact to pain
- Patients with minor health conditions feel less pain compared to those with severe physical alternation
- Chronic pain is psychological
- Patients who are in a hospital experience pain
Factors Influencing Pain: Physiological Factors
- Age
- Fatigue
- Genes
- Neurological Function
Factors Influencing Pain: Social Factors
- Attention
- Previous Experience
- Family and Social Support
- Spiritual Factors
Factors Influencing Pain: Psychological Factors
Anxiety and Coping Style
Factors Influencing Pain: Cultural Factors
how patients cope with pain based on what is expected and accepted by their culture
Assessment of Pain
- Determine the patient’s perspective of pain
- Obtain the pts description of pain
- Utilize pain scales that are valid and reliable
- Review Potential factors affecting pts pain
- Identify medical comorbidities
- Pts own perspective of pain
Determine the patient’s perspective of pain
include hx of pain, what it means, how it affects the pt emotionally, physically and socially
Obtain the patient’s description of pain
characteristics of pain
Utilize pain scales that are valid and reliable
make them specific to patient population
Identify medical comorbidities
diabetes, cancer, hypertension, thyroid issues…
Patient’s Own Perspective of Pain
- be sensitive to patients level of pain: determine what level will allow the pt to function.
- if pain is acute and severe, it is unlikely that a pt is able to describe their pain in detail: assess for location, severity and quality; wait for the moment when the pt feels better for more detailed pain assessment (PQRST)
PQRST
- Palliative or Provocative Factors
- Quality
- Region (location)
- Severity
- Timing
-Effect
Timing
Onset, Duration and Pattern
Location of Pain
- superficial or cutaneous
- deep or visceral
- referred
- radiating
Severity
use appropriate pain scale: numerical rating scale (rates pain from 0-10); verbal descriptor scale (six word descriptors from no pain to unbearable pain), faces pain scale (cartoon faces ranging from 0-6)
Quality
tell me what the discomfort feels like